International luxury brand Bulgari is permanently moving some employees to remote working and thinking of new ways to bring 'its products to life' online

• Like many other companies trying to adapt to a "new normal," international luxury brand, Bulgari, is thinking of new ways to bring it's usually in-store experience, online.
• Deeper in the company, the already global brand is working to keep its employees connected and business moving through technology like video conferencing, instead of traveling.
• Since moving to remote working, CEO Jean Christophe Babin has noticed more efficiency and a better ability to engage with teams that he was rarely able to meet with.
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Bulgari customers have temporarily moved online, but for a huge amount of its management, design, marketing, and operations staff, remote working will be permanent. CEO Jean Christophe Babin is excited about it.

"Covid-19 has changed how we will work at Bulgari forever," he said.

Babin is responsible for the full portfolio at the company — jewelry, watches, fragrances, accessories, and hotels. Before the virus, he was constantly in transit between the company's three headquarters and key markets around the world.

Typically he has meetings about watches and fragrances in Switzerland, accessories in Tuscany, and jewelry and hotels in Rome. Then there are industry conferences and big-budget product launches — often long, glamorous soirees after dark.

Right now, his life is mapped out in an online calendar. No contingency plans needed for delayed flights or fatigue after a late event.

Like Babin, Bulgari teams across the world are dialing into strategy and product meetings, which are actually proving more productive than if they had all traveled to be in one room.

"Digital meetings are definitely more focused, there is more listening, everything is more efficient," Babin said.

He's also finding he is closer to every part of the business on a day to day basis.

"I can now attend any session I want and there is instant feedback which makes decisions so quick," Babin said. "I am also spending about five hours a day checking in with staff across the company that I rarely meet. I could never dream of being able to do that before now."

Learning to provide a luxury experience outside of a physical retail location

While Babin says there has been zero disruption to management — maybe even an improvement in making product decisions — these products still have to be sold, and online is only one, developing marketplace.

Personal selling is hugely important when dealing with fine jewelry, watches, and diamonds, and Bulgari occupies some of the most expensive retail real estate in the world. Babin said it's too soon to comment on whether there will be closures, but there will definitely be changes to the store experience after lockdown ends.

"I expect us to limit customers to two at a time in the showroom," he said.

Unlike many retailers, social distancing measures could prove popular with the Bulgari customer and become a permanent change. Shopping for high-grade diamonds can require a certain level of privacy and quiet.

While footfall in China has bounced back, it's difficult to gauge whether customers in the West will be as confident. This uncertainty is focusing minds across the luxury industry on e-commerce.

Digital storytelling is increasingly important for luxury brands trying to reach customers from a distance. If more of us start to work from home, it will become critical to connect with their target market and replicate the brand experience you get in-store, online.

Bulgari is putting time into building communications that bring its products to life online and choose models that speak to the high-spending-millennial customer. "We carefully select models who have influence in their communities," Babin said.

Continuing to grow amidst an uncertain future

Bulgari hotels also occupy sites in some of the most expensive cities in the world. According to Babin, building out its portfolio is a focus over the next five years with one under construction in Paris and two at planning stages in Moscow, Russia and Tokyo, Japan.

As we contemplate a new reality of remote working and maybe fewer vacations, Jean is confident in the resilience of the Bulgari hotel guest and there are no plans to abandon the projects at this time.

"Like our jewelry and watches, we want the memory of staying at a Bulgari hotel to last a lifetime," Jean said. "We have very little corporate stays so we will not be impacted by reduced company budgets or travel plans."

While the way we work and shop might have changed forever, the values of a brand and a boss often become more entrenched in a time of crisis.

"Fine watches and jewelry represent emotive, sacred life events like a special birthday or a marriage," Babin said. "In such an anxious and destabilized world, these pieces are reminders of the good moments, the important moments."

As CEO of a luxury brand portfolio, with teams spread across the world, Babin refers to himself as the conductor and it is their job to play the music. But how exactly does he be the best conductor?

"By listening," he said, "I am demanding but have an open mind and there is always space for contradiction."